Carlos Marmol has been terrible as the closer for the Chicago Cubs so far this season, and on Friday morning manager Dale Sveum officially informed Marmol that he will not be closing games for Cubs going forward, according to David Kaplan of CSN-Chicago. As for where the Cubs will turn next, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com notes that James Russell and Rafael Dolis will handle closer duties based on matchups in the near-term at least.
Marmol has always had trouble avoiding walks, but he usually offset that with a devastating slider that buoyed an elite strikeout rate. This season his slider has turned into more of a Frisbee spinner that hitters have feasted on, while his walk rate has ballooned to an outrageous 12.46 walks per nine innings -- which has resulted in walks for 25.5 percent of all batters Marmol has faced in 2012 and a 6.77 FIP, according to FanGraphs.com.
Here are the original tweets from Kaplan and Muskat:
Marmol officially informed by Dale Sveum that he is out as Cubs closer. No defined role as of yet.
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) May 4, 2012
James Russell and Rafael Dolis wil handle duties now, based on matchups. #Cubs
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) May 4, 2012
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